Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sorry for the delays in further words of wisdom from Brother Head. The last month has been a little nutso.

Anyway, didn't really have anything to discuss at this point, so I looked in to the past and pulled one of my perls from my previous blog (from several years back).

So if you've read this before, it's a rerun. If you haven't read this one, then it's new to you.

Either way, enjoy friends as I go on a rant about Tipping.

---

Tipping - Aka "Will work for
more money"... aka "I'm Begging for money..."

-

Greetings all. I'm sure that today's rant will piss of a few people.
I seem to be in the minority when it comes to tipping (me, Brother Dee, and Mr.
Pink from Reservoir Dogs).

Most people believe that you should leave a tip with the waiter/waitress no matter
what (unless you have really crappy service). I say
"Shenanigans!" (for the uninformed, that means 'Bullshit!'). I
don't believe this in the slightest. A tip (to me anyways) is a monetary
reward for a job well done. Not for doing your job, but for doing your job
exceptionally.

Don't get me wrong... it's not that I won't tip. I will and have.
But the waiter needs to do their job and then some to get a tip.

The great movie Reservoir Dogs has a character called Mr. Pink (played by Steve
Buscemi) that sums up my feelings on tipping:

"I don't tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone
deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I'll give them something a
little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it's for the birds. As
far as I'm concerned, they're just doing their job." - Mr. Pink.

If I'm sitting in a restaurant eating my meal, bullshitting with friends, or
spending time with the family, I expect the waiter to be there before I run out
of soda or shortly thereafter. I don't expect to go thirsty, damnit.

If you want a tip, don't just do your job. You get paid from your
employer to do your job. If you want something from me, then damnit,
you'd better impress me.

And why is it only certain places expect you to tip? If I go to Chili's,
then I'm expected to tip. I go to Carl's Jr... Not expected... Why?
Who the hell made up the rule about tipping and who gets tips and who
doesn't? Probably a damn crappy waitress.

In fact, my best friend works for Mc Donalds. Not only does he do his job
with a smile (well, ok, Psychotic grin is a better term), but he cracks the
jokes and makes people laugh and have a good time. Does he get a tip?
Noooo. All he gets is grief from retarded co-workers and asshat management.

I used to work for an internet service provider. Not only did I do my job, I think
I did my job exceedingly well. But did I get tips... Hell no. If I didn't do
my job, I would have got fired (as it should be damnit!).

When I go out to eat, it's the waiter's job to bring me food and drink.
If you do your job, then you get paid... Don't expect me to support your coke
and hooker habit or whatever you do. I got my own hookers to support (I
kid!)

Now, if not only do you bring me food and drink, but you do it with a smile,
and you keep bringing me my drink, THEN you'll get a little something
extra. And this "You gotta tip 15%" bullshit (or whatever the
hell it is...") Bullshit. You do a little extra, you get a
little extra. You do a lot extra, you get a lot extra. You see how
that works. Your tip is in direct proportion to the job you do. You
make me feel special and well attended, then I'll leave you a good tip.
You barely acknowledge me, eheheh then you're going to have a hell of a mess to
clean up, plus no damn tip.

---

Usually when someone (like me) mentions that they don't tip, some asshat says
"But they gotta pay taxes on your tip..."

Again, Mr. Pink sums it up nicely:

"I'm very sorry the government taxes their tips, that's fucked up. That
ain't my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups
the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. Look, if you ask me to sign
something that says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it, put it to a
vote, I'll vote for it, but what I won't do is play ball. And as for this
non-college bullshit I got two words for that: learn to fuckin' type, 'cause if
you're expecting me to help out with the rent you're in for a big fuckin'
surprise" - Mr. Pink.

I say that if you want a tip, then make sure I'm happy. Make sure I've
got plenty of Dr. Pepper. Make sure my food is cooked right and like I
ordered. And farkin' smile when you do.

Also. If I don't give a tip (for whatever reason), I'm positive that there
are others out there that leave bigger tips than the normal. That should
more than make up for my cheap ass. It all equals out in the wash.
If you're not happy or not making enough money, quit. Find something else
that will pay you more. You don't have the education or ability to do so,
then quit whining and be happy with what you got.

Also, some jaggoff will always bring up "But what if they're busy,blah,
blah, blah...".
Again, I cry Shenanigans. If they want that tip, they need to put a
little extra hustle in their step. If they can't, then they either need
to get another job or STFU and get me my food. One of the two. As
Randall says in Clerks. "Either shit or get off the pot!"

Also as quoted from Reservoir Dogs (once again, yes damn it, I like that
movie.)"The words 'too fucking busy' shouldn't be in a waitress's
vocabulary." - Mr. Pink

And don't fucking get me started on "Automatic Gratuity".
That's just robbery without a gun. If the restaurants think that their
waitstaff deserves more money, then fuckin' pay em a decent salary. Don't
expect me to pay the bill, plus take care of your staff. This whole
"Automatic Gratuity on parties of 12 or more" is just one big
rip off. If your staff wants a tip, then they need to do their job (and
then some).

In fact, let me give everyone here a tip. In the immoral words of Brother
Head... 'Don't tip because they expect it. Tip because they deserve
it.'

Anywho... that's enough bitching for one night. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think (whether you agree or if you think I'm a cheap ass bastard).

Friday, October 11, 2013

Comics and TV today!

Or

"What Head's watching!"

Today's blog is going to be about (as you might be able to tell from the title) comic book tv shows that are currently on television. I'll give brief reviews and/or opinions on all the tv shows (that I'm aware of) currently on-air.

In a later blog, I might cover the past tv shows... but for now let's roll that beautiful bean footage....

-The Walking Dead (season 4 starts Sunday on AMC):
I've thoroughly enjoyed the first three seasons of The Walking Dead so far. I first read the first few issues of the comic. But due to financial reasons, I didn't keep reading the comic (wasn't in the mood to read a zombie comic at the time). Then AMC premiered the tv show. Which was amazing. The first episode blew me away. It was so graphic and the effects were amazing. Not only does the show have fantastic graphics, but the interpersonal interactions between the cast is great. They're not afraid to kill off characters and make drastic changes. Yes, the show does veer from the comic (I finally got the TPBs from the library and got caught up on the entire run so far), but it's close enough in spirit to be fantastic.

If you haven't seen this, you should watch it. This is about the best comic book tv show I have EVER seen.

-Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (on ABC)
Spinning out of the fantastic Avengers movies, this show focus' on Agent Phil Coulson and his hand selected group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division in the movie/tv universe, which is different from the actual comic universe). I've heard several people complain about this show, but for my money, I think it's pretty good. It is an ABC tv show, so it can be a bit formulaic, but overall I'm happy with it. First episode had a guest appearance by Maria Hill (from The Avengers), second episode had a Nick Fury appearance. And if you haven't seen Avengers yet, I'm going to spoil part of it for you.
This take place after The Avengers (as there are several references each episode to the "NY Event" and "Aliens Attacking Earth"), yet the main character is Agent Coulson (who dies in The Avengers at Loki's hands). The first reference to this in the show, is that he wasn't really dead (Nick lied) and they shipped him off somewhere (Tahiti I think it was) to get better.
As a way to bring Coulson back, I guess I could buy that, but I wasn't 100% happy with it. But behind Coulson's back, a couple of his people have made references that Coulson doesn't know what actually happened to him. Which seems to imply that he did die and there is some other explanation. I'm thinking either clone or LMD (Life Model Decoy). Hopefully ABC doesn't cancel the show before we get our answers.

-Arrow (on CW, based on D.C.'s Green Arrow)
The Arrow has just started it's second season on the CW. This series follows the exploits of billionaire Oliver Queen, who after five years of being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret masked vigilante, that the media and police call "The Hood". The Hood's preferred weapon is the bow and arrow.During the show, Oliver has ran in to several characters from the comics, including Deadshot, Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson, Shado, and The Count (aka Count Vertigo). Also shown is Roy Harper (who in the comics becomes Oliver's sidekick Speedy). Oliver is assisted by his bodyguard John Diggle and Felicity Smoak (in the comics, Felicity is the name of Ron (Firestorm) Raymond's step-mother. Unfortunately, I don't see Ronnie showing up here *sad face*).
Also this season, Barry Allen is supposed to show up, leading in to a Flash tv show (for more on Flash and Firestorm, see my previous entry on my favorite super-heroes).

Anywho.... if you're in to comics and/or heroes, I definitely recommend this show.

-Mighty Med (Disney XD)
This is a new show on Disney XD. It follows two boys who encounter a secret hospital for super-heroes. Being it's on a Disney channel and stars Disney kids, it's about what you'd expect. My 5 year old daughter really likes it. I think it's alright. It's got some decent super-hero effects, and decent story telling (aimed at a younger audience). My only problem with it, is one of the characters (Alan Diaz) is annoying as fark. I don't know if it's the character that annoys me (he's supposed to be the whiny annoying kid) or if it's the actor playing him I don't like. Either way, I'd like the show much better with out him. But having said that, as long as Alexis is enjoying it, I'll keep tuning in.

-Avengers Assemble (Animated - Disney XD)
The first of the animated series I'll briefly discuss. Actually the first and in my opinion, the best. I'm really liking Avengers Assemble. It's a continuation of the previous series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. This show follows the adventures of the Avengers as they take on villains such as Loki, Red Skull, MODOK, Doctor Doom and others.
This Avengers team consists of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and newbie Falcon.
As far as cartoon adaptations goes, this one is pretty spot on.

-Hulks and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (Animated - Disney XD)
Let me start off with a disclaimer on this one. I'm not a fan of the new extended Hulk family. Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, A-Bomb, Skarr, everything in the past few years of comics I have not cared for. I think Marvel tried WAY tooooo hard to make Red Hulk powerful (punching out the Watcher was one of my "I'm outta here" points) and they dragged the mystery of who the Red Hulk is out wayyyy to long (and did some questionable tactics to keep people from guessing who it is). So seeing how this show highlights all of these characters (well, I haven't seen Red She-Hulk, but give em time), this isn't the right way to win my love.
Also, I'm not big on the "Web-series" format of the show.
If you haven't watched it yet, Rick Jones is doing a web show, trying to show the world how the Hulk isn't such a bad guy. I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care much for it.
The only reason I'm staying tuned is that my daughter seems to enjoy it. And maybe that's my problem. It appears the show is aimed at 5 years old and I'm just too old for it. I dunno.

-Ultimate Spider-Man (Animated - Disney XD)
What can I say about Ultimate Spider-Man? The animation isn't too bad. I don't care for how he breaks the fourth wall so much (talking to the audience like he knows he's in a show), and I don't care for the very childish thought balloons (for lack of a better word) they use. Again, my daughter loves it, so maybe I'm just getting too old for it (I know, I'm too old for comics in general.... yeah, yeah, yeah....).

At this point, if it went off the air, I wouldn't be too disappointed.

-Beware The Batman (Animated - Cartoon Network)
Half a dozen episodes of this and I'm still not sure. It's not too bad. I prefer the previous Green Lantern and Young Justice shows more. The CG style (while similar to GL) is taking some getting use to. Not 100% impressed with the younger, bald, gun toting Alfred. I have never cared much for Katana, so having her as a regular presence isn't a big draw for me. Though I do like they are focusing on the lesser known Batman villains in this show. It's not a return of the Jokers, Ra's, Riddlers, etc. So as it is a Batman cartoon and not too terrible, I'll stick with it for the time being. Unlike my next topic...

-Teen Titans Go (Animated - Cartoon Network)
Not much to say about this show. I'm saddened we lost The Green Lantern and Young Justice for this (as I mentioned previously). I'm sure it's aimed for a much younger demographic than me, but as a comic fan, I don't care for it. Can't speak for storylines themselves, as I can't get past the art on it. I didn't care for it with Teen Titans a few years ago, I especially don't like it here. As Thumper's dad used to say, if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all... So I won't say anything more about this.

-Comic Book Men (not a comic adaptation, but comic related)
Comic Book Men is a "reality show" that shows the going on's at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey. I know it's not reality (hence my using quote marks above), but that's the closest type of show I can call it. The show follows Walt Flanagan, Mike Zapcic, Bryan Johnson, and Ming Chen as they go about their day buying and selling comic book paraphernalia. Also Kevin Smith shows up here and there throughout the show, questioning the clerks about their day.
I love seeing the various comics that shows up on the show. Also the various toys and other comic related memorabilia (same reason I enjoy watching Toy Hunter).